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Thursday: This isn’t really about writing

Writing has not been my highest priority this week, which wasn’t any good since this is the most inspired and motivated I’ve been to write in months. Monday I finally felt like I wasn’t forcing words onto the page and then the rest of the day and Tuesday went to Hades. Wednesday I had to get a crown (an expected end to a 3 year-long dental saga) and a root canal (totally out of the blue but the root cause of an infection I’ve been fighting for more than a month). Today is good and tomorrow will surely be awesome. I am looking forward to the weekend for many reasons, primarily to recover psychologically from Monday through Wednesday, but also because I’ve been feeling rather crafty.

Craftiness is not my natural state. It comes and goes with varying levels of enthusiasm and motivation. I decided last fall that this would be a DIY Christmas and I pulled it off (along with some hair) but have since been DIY-dormant. Last week I decided to make my own body lotion and it went quite well judging by the smoothness of my skin (recipe below). This weekend I’m planning to work on a few Scrabble boards and a quilt-repair project I’ve been denying myself.

I’m hoping this new well-spring of craftiness is coming from the same place as the rest of my creativity and will result in many months of writing momentum to carry me through the summer. I’m really working/hoping to finish the first draft of a new novel by April to have it ready to query in June, I’m writing a few more chapters of another WIP for my fiction workshop, and I’m revising my original novel (now unpublished); so there’s lots to be done. What sort of things go hand-in-hand with your “muses” and periods of writing inspiration? Alternatively, what do you find that you deflect your writing creativity into?

Frankincense and Lavender Body Lotion:

1/2 cup Raw Cocoa Butter

1/4 cup Almond Oil and Vitamin E Oil blend (You could do straight one or the other, or use grape seed oil)

1/4 cup Coconut Oil

~40 drops of Essential Oil of your choice (I did about 30 Frankincense and 20 Lavender but I think I went a little overboard)

Directions: In a double boiler, melt the coconut oil and cocoa butter. Once it’s melted, take it off the heat and let it drop to room temperature. Once at room temperature, add the almond oil blend and the essential oils and mix it around a bit.

Put the bowl in the fridge and let it cool until it becomes opaque and the consistency of butter. Once it’s sufficiently cooled and firm, whip it with your hand mixer or Kitchen Aid until it’s shipped like stiffly beaten cream. Add it to a jar and voila!

An Excerpt….

From "The Golden Apple".....
"Poppy checked herself one last time in the rearview mirror before getting out to greet Austin. He threw his leather duffel in the back and slammed the hatch down. Austin stood two feet from her for a moment before pulling her into a hug. She relaxed in his arms as he leaned back from her and took the keys, smiling. “I was nervous about you driving in the city.”
“Well, she’s in one piece. No dents or dings.”
“I don’t care about the car.” He looked at her. She thought of London and their conversation a few days before.